To Sell or Rent

Residential Real Estate Broker from Tampa, Florida

posted over 3 years ago

Just closed on our first investment property last week. It's a SFH in a gentrifying area (is that a word?)+. Did a bit of landscaping but otherwise it was move in ready. I had it staged and professionally photographed. The original intent was to rent it. The photos came out so well I decided to put it for sale as well at a price I didn't really expect to get. Both the for sale and the rental listings went live (MLS) late last night and I've had unexpectedly high interest for both. To the point where I now may have a real decision to make. Here are the facts:

Also Note: I'm a Realtor I only would pay 3% to another buyer's agent if I sell

If I were to get close to $165K would I be a fool to pass on that in lieu of the rental income? Now I'm trying to decide if I should hold off leasing it to see if I can get that price or if I should just see which opportunity happens first and jump on it. Thanks for the feedback.

Account Closed

Just closed on our first investment property last week. It's a SFH in a gentrifying area (is that a word?)+. Did a bit of landscaping but otherwise it was move in ready. I had it staged and professionally photographed. The original intent was to rent it. The photos came out so well I decided to put it for sale as well at a price I didn't really expect to get. Both the for sale and the rental listings went live (MLS) late last night and I've had unexpectedly high interest for both. To the point where I now may have a real decision to make. Here are the facts:

Also Note: I'm a Realtor I only would pay 3% to another buyer's agent if I sell

If I were to get close to $165K would I be a fool to pass on that in lieu of the rental income? Now I'm trying to decide if I should hold off leasing it to see if I can get that price or if I should just see which opportunity happens first and jump on it. Thanks for the feedback.

What is your long term goal? Financial independence? If so, see link in my signature.

Never, or rarely, sell. Generate long-term wealth by investing in and staying in real estate. If you need cash, cash out refi instead so you get at your equity tax free!

I only sell if my original hypotheses turned out wrong or if neighborhood starts going down hill.

Residential Real Estate Broker from Tampa, Florida

Those numbers seem pretty friendly as a rental. What level of tenant does the area demand?

The property has a 3/1 block main house with a 1 car carport and a 2/1 block cottage house in the back yard with it's own carport and potential separate alley entrance. The house was severelyunder priced by the prior seller, to say the least. That said, It's not rented yet so it could prove to be too high but based on the amount of inquiries, I think it will be leased soon. I'm supposed to meet a handful of potential tenants tomorrow.

Residential Real Estate Broker from Tampa, Florida

Well see what quality of tenant potential you get tomorrow and post up what you find.

OK so I'm reporting back- took a lot longer than I thought to get rented but we got it leased for $1800/mo to two students with parent co-signors (strong credit). We had a lot of student interest being located fairly close to two universities. It was shown approximately 20 times by other agents on the "for sale" listing side but no offers. We had it staged and professionally photographed for marketing purposes but we immediately de-staged once the photos were taken, so it was empty during showings. I believe this explains the huge buyer interest without any offers to purchase. Ultimately, renting is what we preferred so we are happy with the potential return we are expecting. Thanks for the input.

Rental Property Investor from Northeast, TN

Well see what quality of tenant potential you get tomorrow and post up what you find.

OK so I'm reporting back- took a lot longer than I thought to get rented but we got it leased for $1800/mo to two students with parent co-signors (strong credit). We had a lot of student interest being located fairly close to two universities. It was shown approximately 20 times by other agents on the "for sale" listing side but no offers. We had it staged and professionally photographed for marketing purposes but we immediately de-staged once the photos were taken, so it was empty during showings. I believe this explains the huge buyer interest without any offers to purchase. Ultimately, renting is what we preferred so we are happy with the potential return we are expecting. Thanks for the input.

Thanks for the update! It's always interesting to see how things turned out on these types of deals. I would have said to rent, too, but your initial estimates on possible sale prices seemed like quite a hefty profit to be made that fast.